I've become more and more convinced that, because of the internet, and because of all the other kit they have in their bedrooms, "freedom for children" is not so much an aspirational political slogan as an accomplished sociological fact. Which totally changes how teachers have to go about things, and how we ought to judge their effectiveness. Ever since I went for the lady on Samizdata, and again in more measured tones here, I've been wondering what it must be like having to be the teacher of Cecile Dubois.

Or, as Cathy puts it:

So even if she hadn't received such an outpouring of support, I think Cecile's regular stops in the blogosphere would have served as an antidote to what happened at school this past Friday. Certainly if a teacher implies a student is a racist idiot one day, and by the next some 200 smart and articulate adults have said she's not and here's why, that rather counteracts the original lesson plan. Now that so many teens have blogs, concerns about doctrinaire teachers may be passé. Our sons and our daughters are beyond their control.

I and Jackie D, and Michael Jennings all get a mention, along with Samizdata of course.